Labour MP Catherine West Defends Push for Leadership Challenge Against Starmer

Labour MP Catherine West said, "We have a problem and we need to move quickly," as she defended her efforts to trigger a leadership challenge against Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The north London MP told BBC's Laura Kuenssberg she would prefer a Cabinet member to step forward but would consider running herself if none did. West said she would listen to Starmer's planned relaunch speech on Monday but launch a challenge if she remained "dissatisfied."

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson addressed West directly on the program. "I love you dearly Catherine, but we just disagree on this one," Phillipson said.

The senior minister said Labour took "a real kicking" from voters in Thursday's elections but added it was not time to "spend time talking amongst ourselves, arguing amongst ourselves, fighting amongst ourselves." She said, "We do need to tell a better story, we do need to deliver faster."

Labour lost nearly 1,500 councillors in England, mostly to Reform UK and the Greens, and lost power in Wales. The party finished joint second in Scotland, where the SNP held the Parliament.

West, a former junior minister, is not seeking to become Labour leader herself. Her goal is to force heavyweight contenders into the race who she believes can outperform Starmer.

Triggering a contest requires support from 20% of Labour MPs, or 81 people. West said she has 10 MPs ready to endorse her.

More than 30 Labour MPs have publicly called for Starmer to resign or set a departure timetable.

West told the BBC: "I will hear what the prime minister's got to say tomorrow and, then if I'm still dissatisfied, I will put out my email to the Parliamentary Labour Party, asking for names. And the reason I'm doing that is not for me. It's for working people, because Labour is the only party that can beat Reform."

Asked if she could gather enough support, the Hornsey and Friern Barnet MP replied: "We will find out when I put out my email to the Parliamentary Labour Party. But what we need is that timetable from the chair of the party [Anna Turley], and she and I are very good friends, she knows, I've asked her for an orderly transition into a leadership election."

Phillipson said voters felt Labour had not "delivered" on its 2024 general election promises. She called Reform UK's gains a "perilous moment" for the country and said only Labour could reunite it.

Starmer plans a major speech Monday to reset his premiership, followed by the King's Speech outlining new laws for the year. Phillipson said he would set a "fresh direction for our country and for our party."

She said Starmer would lead Labour into the next general election, due by 2029 at the latest.

Unite union leader Sharon Graham said she was "very sure" Starmer would not lead into the next election.

Former Conservative minister Nadine Dorries, now with Reform, called Starmer an "asset" to her party. "We'd love Starmer to stay there," she said, but added, "For the sake of the country... Labour should change their leader."

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are seen as main challengers. Burnham needs to become an MP first; the party's ruling body blocked him from a by-election earlier this year.

His supporters want any contest delayed until he can return to Parliament.

On Sunday, MPs Josh Simons and Anna Dixon joined calls for Starmer to step down. Simons, formerly of Labour Together and a recent minister, wrote in The Times: "I do not believe the prime minister can rise to this moment. He has lost the country. He should take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new prime minister."

Shipley MP Dixon told BBC Politics North: "I don't believe that the public any longer have confidence that the prime minister can take us successfully into the next set of elections." She called him a "good man" who should "take control of this... and plan for an orderly transition in our leadership."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Starmer ignored the elections as a referendum on his cost-of-living failures. He called for stronger EU ties to boost growth but said Starmer's plans were "too weak and unambitious."